OLATHE, KANSAS (August 31, 2016) – Deere & Company and The Climate Corporation said they plan to contest legal action announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that seeks to block Deere’s acquisition of Precision Planting.

In November, Deere and The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company, announced they had signed a definitive agreement for Deere to acquire the Precision Planting LLC equipment business, and the companies cooperated fully with DOJ’s antitrust review.

DOJ’s allegations about the competitive impacts of the transaction are misguided and the companies intend to defend the transaction vigorously against those allegations. Deere has long been focused on helping American farmers become more efficient and productive so that they can remain globally competitive. The proposed acquisition benefits farmers by accelerating the development and delivery of new precision equipment solutions that help farmers increase yield and productivity.

Competition in precision agriculture is strong and growing in all of these channels as companies around the world continue developing new technologies. The acquisition will enable broader access to these advancements by ensuring farmers the choice to either buy new machinery or retrofit older planting equipment with the latest new innovations. When the transaction is finalized, Deere will preserve Precision Planting’s independence in order to ensure innovation and speed-to-market and will invest in additional innovation efforts at Precision Planting to benefit customers.

With a tradition of agriculture solutions since 1930, we are recognized as the leader in designing planter attachments and precision fertilizer placement tools. We engineer profitable solutions to meet the challenges producers face in today's constantly changing production agriculture environment.

Needham Ag understands the role of technology in making better use of limited resources within a specific environment by drawing on a wealth of global experience to overcome the challenges facing today's farmers, manufacturers and dealers.